As you know, we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day every year, but did you know that King is the only person in American history, besides George Washington, to have a national holiday dedicated to him? Why is that, especially since Martin Luther King Jr. wasn’t even a president? Well, George Washington created the American government, while Martin Luther King Jr. truly united Americans. He fought for equality, which is remarkable, but he didn’t use any weapons; he fought and won with only words. It all started in his childhood in Atlanta, Georgia, in the 1930s. Mike, which was Martin Luther King Jr.’s childhood name, had a white friend. They were best friends until they were six years old, and then they had to go to separate schools.
One day his friend told Mike that his father had told him they couldn’t play together anymore. Mike was devastated. That’s when his parents explained segregation to him. It meant that Black people had to sit separately from white people on buses and in restaurants, use separate bathrooms, and even attend separate schools. In the Southern states, white people thought it was natural to treat Black people badly, even after slavery ended in 1865. Martin Luther King Jr. was angry that white people had separated him from his friend. From then on, he started seeing inequality everywhere. Once, he was traveling on a bus with his father and they were forced to move from the seats reserved for white people, making them stand for 90 miles.
Another day, a clerk in a shoe store told Martin Luther King Jr. and his father to go to the back of the store to be served. They refused. As these incidents continued, King’s resolve to fight segregation grew stronger. Martin Luther King Jr. was a brilliant student. He entered college at the age of 15. Later, while studying at a seminary, he learned about Mahatma Gandhi, a leader from India who fought for human rights through non-violent or peaceful means. In 1955, Martin Luther King Jr. began his civil rights movement by helping to organize a bus boycott against racial segregation on buses. In Montgomery, Alabama, all Black people refused to ride or drive on public buses for a year. King was jailed for this, but the peaceful protest ended segregation on the city’s buses. This was his first victory in his 12-year movement. Martin Luther King Jr. gave over 2,500 public speeches and went to jail 30 times, but he never gave up.
More than 250,000 people heard his most famous speech, “I Have a Dream,” which he delivered in 1963. Shortly afterward, the U.S. government passed the Civil Rights Act of 1963, which outlawed racial discrimination, and the following year Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize for his peaceful approach to achieving equality. Millions of Americans supported Martin Luther King Jr., although some opposed his views. He was only 39 years old when he tragically died at the hands of an assassin. However, Martin Luther King Jr.’s words and peaceful actions changed American society forever. That is why the U.S. government declared a national holiday in his honor.